For South Africa, in PILRS pupils were assessed in two grades and in all of the official 11 languages. The results were the lowest internationally despite the fact that South African Grade 5 pupils were compared with grade 4 students internationally. South African children start their school learning in their home language. However, in the majority of schools, the language of instruction changes in grade 4 and then more than 80% of South African pupils learn in a second language. As socio-economic status and home language are important factors, this study explores first the contexts of high achieving European countries (Russian Federation and Italy) and compare these with the South African context in relation to pupils’ performance. This study then explores the extent to which children from different language groups within South Africa differ on home activities. In particular the effect of socialization in the home will be analysed because national findings indicate that children from English and Afrikaans backgrounds are exposed to more home activities associated with reading, most often attend pre-school education and achieved higher scores on PIRLS. The study uses the PIRLS 2006 national data comprising about 15 000 grade 4 pupils from more than 400 schools.